To Desire a Devil (Legend of the Four Soldiers #4)(73)

Beatrice looked down blindly at her worktable. “Did you enjoy your visit with Lord Vale?”

“Enjoyed may not be exactly the right word.” He came to stand beside her table. “What is this?”

“A book I’m binding for Lady Vale.” She looked up at him. “It’s for your sister. Apparently, your nanny read it to you both when you were children.”

“Indeed?” He bent over her shoulder, studying the pages she was sewing. “I’ll be damned. It’s the tale of Longsword.” A wondering smile lit his face. “That was a favorite of mine.”

“Perhaps I should make a book for us as well, then,” Beatrice said lightly.

“Why?”

“Well . . .” She looked down at her hands, carefully drawing the thread. “For our children, naturally. I’m sure you’d like to read them the book you enjoyed as a child.”

He shrugged. “If you wish.”

Beatrice wrinkled her nose, frowning fiercely to keep back silly tears. Childish of her to feel hurt at his dismissive tone. She drew a breath. “What did you talk about with Lord Vale?”

“My title,” he said. “I intend to get it back tomorrow, if you remember.”

“Of course.” She busied herself with her tools. He sounded so sure, but the rumors of his madness still swirled about the streets of London.

“And once I obtain it, this house will be mine alone.”

“I hope you’ll not mind Uncle Reggie and me staying here as well.” She tried to say the words lightly.

“Don’t be silly.” He frowned.

“I’m not silly,” she said, pulling her thread too tight. “It’s just . . .”

“What?” he snapped.

She laid down her work and looked at him, drawing a deep breath. “You’re obsessed with regaining your title, your monies, your lands, everything you lost, in fact, and I understand that, but there’s more than that for you to think about.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, his face sharp and lined.

Beatrice lifted her chin. “Have you thought about what you’ll do once you become the earl?”

“I’ll manage my estates, attend to my land and investments.” He waved an impatient hand. “What else do you suggest I do?”

She laid a hand on her worktable, clutching the edge. He could be so intimidating when angered! “You could do so much good as the earl—”

“And I intend to,” he said.

“Do you?” Her voice was sharp, and she no longer cared. He was dismissing her and her thoughts out of hand. “Do you? All I’ve heard you talk about is your house, your monies, your lands. Have you no thought of how you’ll live your life once you already have all those things? You’ll sit in the House of Lords. You’ll be able to vote on bills before parliament, even champion your own if you wish.”

“You talk to me like I’m an infant, Beatrice,” he snapped. “What are you trying to get at?”

“There’s a bill that’ll be presented tomorrow,” she said before she could lose courage. “Mr. Wheaton’s veteran’s pension bill. It would provide for soldiers who are no longer in His Majesty’s army, give them a pension so they wouldn’t have to beg on the street—”

He waved a dismissive hand. “I don’t have the time right now to—”

She slammed her hand down on her desk, making the book slide to the floor. He turned, looking at her in astonishment.

Beatrice drew herself up. “When will you have the time, Reynaud? When?”

“I’ve told you,” he said coldly. “After I am certain of my title.”

“You’ll just suddenly start caring for others then? Is that it?” She’d begun to shake. This discussion was no longer about Mr. Wheaton’s bill. It’d become bigger somehow. “Tell me, Reynaud, do you love me?”

He cocked his head, eyeing her warily. “Why are you asking me now?”

Hot tears stung her eyes, but she kept them open, staring at him. “Becuase I think you’ve kept your emotions under such tight rein for so long that you no longer know how to let them loose. I don’t think you can care for others at all.”

And she walked from the sitting room.

Chapter Fifteen

The princess shrank in fear, but though he knelt on one knee, Longsword did not flinch. He met the dragon’s charge with the steel of his blade. Once, twice, thrice, he swung his mighty sword, and when at last the dust had cleared and all was silent again, there lay the great dragon, dying at his feet. And as the beast died, its form changed until a horrid hag lay in its place, for it was the evil witch herself who had assumed the shape of a dragon.

Well! The princess was quite pleased, I can tell you. She rushed to release her father the king. When it was made known to him that Longsword had by himself defeated the evil witch, the king was happy indeed to give his only child as a reward.

And so it was that Longsword married a princess royal….

—from Longsword

It was well after midnight by the time Reynaud joined her in their bed. Beatrice lay still, feigning sleep. It was her wifely duty to let him make love to her if he so desired, but she certainly had no desire at the moment. Not when they’d argued. He probably hated her now for the blunt things she’d said, but she’d had to say them.